Created as a cabinet department in 1989 from the former Veterans Administration, which dated to 1930. It runs the Veterans Health Administration — the country's largest integrated health system — alongside benefit programs and 150-plus national cemeteries.
Open the interactive page for VA →Created byDepartment of Veterans Affairs Act, Oct. 25, 1988 (Pub. L. 100-527, 102 Stat. 2635), effective March 15, 1989
Head appointed38 U.S.C. § 303: there is a Secretary of Veterans Affairs, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. No fixed term (PAS)
Removal standardno statutory removal protection — removable at will (Myers v. United States, 272 U.S. 52 (1926))
Funded underMilitary Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (medical care funded one year in advance)
Congressional oversightHouse Committee on Veterans' Affairs · Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Inspector generalVA OIG (PAS IG under the IG Act, 5 U.S.C. § 403(a))
Judicial reviewAppeals to the Board of Veterans' Appeals, then the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (38 U.S.C. § 7252) and the Federal Circuit; APA § 702 suits
Vote for President and Senate; file a benefits claim or appeal a denial through the Board of Veterans' Appeals (va.gov); report problems through the VA's patient-advocate program or the VA-OIG hotline (vaoig.gov); comment on proposed rules at regulations.gov.